No one could have imagined such a resounding success of the GIIS Abu Dhabi 5th Athleta Annual Sports Meet 2020 - 2021. It was a teamwork that started a month before.Registration for the events was closed on 23rd January, 2021. Virtual Sports week activities were conducted from 26th to 30th January 2021 with an active participation from 887 students from Grade: 1-12 and 389 parents to show their love, passion and commitment towards the sports. For hustle free sports events, all details about each event was highlighted with separate folders for each event, each class - mentioning event dates along-with rules and regulations for each event.

For the Grade: 1- 2 category, there were five events like Shuttle Run, Star Jump, Balance Challenge, Step-Ups, Around the World and Pyramid. Students were supposed to enroll for any four events and the Pyramid was open to all.

For the Grade: 3-4 category, there were seven events like Shuttle Run, Star Jump, Balance Challenge, Step-Ups, Plank, Catch and Clap, Ball Juggling, Around the World and Pyramid. Chess was an additional event for Grade: 4. Students were supposed to enroll for any five events and the Pyramid was open to all.

For the Grade: 5-6 category, there were nine events like Chess, Skipping Rope, Shuttle Run, Plank, Speed Bounce, Ball Juggling, Ball Coordination, Push Yourself, Climb the Mountain and Step-ups. Students were supposed to enroll for any six events and the Step Up was open to all.

For the Grade: 7-8 category, there were twelve events like Chess, Skipping Rope, Shuttle Run, Plank, Speed Bounce, Ball Juggling, Ball Coordination, Push Yourself, Climb the Mountain, Bottle Flipping, Squat, Step-up and Sports Quiz. Students were supposed to enroll for any seven events and the Sports Quiz was open to all.

In Grade: 9-12 category, there were twelve events like Chess, Skipping Rope, Shuttle Run, Plank, Speed Bounce, Ball Juggling, Ball Coordination, Push Yourself, Climb the Mountain, Bottle Flipping, Squat, Step-up and Sports Quiz. Students were supposed to enroll for any eight events and the Sports Quiz was open to all.

It was not only for GIIS students but an equal opportunity was open for all parents and they highly appreciated their active participation. 

Sports Valedictory ceremony was conducted on 13th February, 2021 on a virtual platform to felicitate our winners. The Programme began with our comperes Catherine Manuel of Grade: 8 and Dua Salim of Grade: 11 who marked the show with their excellent vocal skills.The programme began with recitation of Holy Quran by Afiqa Abdul Kader of Grade 11 followed by the English translation by Fiza Zubair of Grade 11.The students entered into the spirit of the occasion in a grand way with the oath being administered by the Sports Captain Fida of Grade X 

‘The torch of GIIS is flaming- we burn so sweet, the thrill of victory.’

The importance of torch lightning ceremony was beautifully put up by Dua Salim that symbolizes the light of spirit, knowledge and life," and signifies the passing of Olympic traditions from one generation to the next. It was followed by a welcome speech that was proposed by Aditi Ajay of Grade: 4.

It was mesmerizing to hear from our School leadership one after the other. They appreciated the efforts and motivated us to do much better. SDO-Mr. Amol Vaidya, addressed the gathering and appreciated efforts taken by organizers, participants and parents. Chief Guest for the event Mr. Pramod Tripati, Associate Director of Academics GSF addressed the gathering with his motivational speech and laid emphasis on the Kothari Commission besides congratulating the Principal, teachers and students for making this event a success. Principal, GIIS Abu Dhabi, Dr Heena Rachh, who is also a sportswoman appreciated all efforts taken by students, teachers and parents to make this event a resounding success. 

The winners’ names were announced by Amal and Arleen for various categories, including best athletes and the winning houses. Merit certificates were awarded for the first three positions among boys and girls in each event category. Two Best athletes from each group, among boys and girls, respectively were awarded Best Athlete E-certificate on the basis of overall points from all the events they participated in. Among the houses, Chrysanthemum House bagged the third place with 285 points, 2nd position was bagged by Orchid House with 305 points and the First place was taken by the Hibiscus House with 326 points.

Best athletes were selected based on the overall points they scored from both boys and girls category: Among boys category from Grade: 1, Karthik Sridhar bagged the title and in girls category it was bagged by Esha Jogi. In the boys category, from Grade: 2, Anish Atul Nehette bagged the title and in girls category it was bagged by Nandika Nair. In Grade: 3, Kevin Paul bagged the title among boys and in girls category it was bagged by Shambhavi Singh. In Grade: 4, Namra Axaykumar put up his name in the boys category and Ameya Sunil was selected best athlete in the girls’ category. The best athlete male from Grade: 5 and 6 was given to Jayden Ajith and Pranavi Ksheera took the title among girls. Among boys category from Grade: 7 and 8, Rijah Ahamed bagged the title and in girls category it was bagged by Rishika Mehta. Last but not the least, in Grade: 9-12 category, Arbab Hussain of Grade: 9 put up his name in the boys category and Nethra Nitesh of Grade:10 was selected as the  best athlete in the girls’ category.

The final part of the segment was a vote of thanks proposed by Chris Manuel of Grade: 3, that itself was so pleasing and soothing to hear. It was a day filled with sportsmanship, enthusiasm and memories to cherish.